Coroner's Finding: Clark, Michael John
Deceased
Michael John Clark
Demographics
59y, male
Date of death
2020-01-27
Finding date
2023-04-26
Cause of death
Multiple injuries of chest and abdomen
AI-generated summary
Michael John Clark, a 59-year-old school bus driver, died from multiple injuries to chest and abdomen sustained in a motor vehicle collision on the Huon Highway in Dover, Tasmania on 27 January 2020. Mr Clark was driving lawfully in the correct lane at appropriate speed when a motorhome driven by a German tourist crossed into the oncoming lane, colliding with his vehicle. The coroner found Mr Clark could not have avoided the crash. The other driver, Friedrich Burkhardt, was later convicted of causing death by negligent driving and sentenced to three months suspended imprisonment. The coroner concluded this was an unavoidable accident caused by driver error (possible confusion about which side of the road to drive on) and made no recommendations for systemic change.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Driver error - motorhome crossed into incorrect lane
- Possible confusion about which side of road to drive on (tourist from country with right-hand traffic)
- Negligent driving
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —